The way East St. John High School football coach Alden Foster describes it, Damonte Coxie was so dominant at an LSU satellite camp in the summer before his senior year that Les Miles had no choice but to offer him a scholarship. Then Coxie went to another camp, this one with Alabama.

“And Nick Saban was asking, ‘Who the hell is that?’” Foster recalled.

It wasn’t too long before Saban got his answer. And University of Memphis fans will find out soon, too. After taking an academic redshirt season and missing the spring game with a knee injury, Coxie promises to become a familiar name for Tigers fans this season, even in a deep receiving corps that features seniors Anthony Miller, Phil Mayhue and Sam Craft, among others.

A former three-star recruit who was rated the 29th-best prospect in the state of Louisiana in 2016 according to 247 Sports, Coxie was long committed to LSU and earned an offer from the Crimson Tide after that aforementioned camp.

So how the heck did he wind up at Memphis?

“Coach (Mike) Norvell. He believed in me,” Coxie said after practice this week. “Coach Dave Johnson, they heard about my situation and they gave me a chance.”

Well, the full answer is slightly more complicated than that.

Here's where it all started: Foster and Johnson, the Tigers’ wide receivers coach, played against one another in college while at Southern University and Nicholls State, respectively. Foster went on to spend seven years as the head coach at Amite High School, where he coached future Tigers Donald Pennington and Joshua Perry. Johnson coached at four high schools in the state before taking a job at Tulane in 2012. The two stayed in touch and became close friends over the years.

Johnson was working a satellite camp one summer when he saw Coxie, who was playing at Tara High School in Baton Rouge at the time, and gave the 6-foot-3 receiver his first college scholarship offer. Then, in 2015, Foster took the head coaching job at East St. John and Coxie, coincidentally, transferred there.

“The thing that surprised me more than anything (when I first saw him) is the way he comes out of his breaks,” Foster said. “Most 6-4 guys are not as fluid as he is. He’s a great kid, and he’s such a competitor. He’s got some dog in him, you know?”

Coxie grew up an LSU fan, so when Miles offered him a scholarship before his senior season, he committed. When Alabama offered him, too, there was no question that he was a Southeastern Conference-caliber talent. But there were questions about whether he would qualify academically.

“I knew early on he was going to kind of have some grade issues,” Johnson said. “The previous school he was committed to (LSU) kind of wasn’t sure, because he was a kid that didn’t run a real fast 40 (-yard dash) time. So he didn’t look good on paper — the running times and different things like that — but I knew he was a player.”

In the end, Coxie was a late academic qualifier, but both SEC schools had already used up their allotted scholarships — allowing Johnson, Norvell and Memphis to swoop in.

“LSU, they ended up having a number issue, so the availability for him to look at other programs was there,” Norvell said. “We got him up here, he loved what he saw and not only has he been a phenomenal football player with a great future, (but) he’s one of the best teammates we have. The kids love him, and I love coaching him.”

Though Coxie was able to enroll at Memphis a little less than a year ago, his academic issues forced him to spend the 2016 season in the stands, watching the Tigers instead of playing with them. He has also had to overcome a string of knee injuries, including one that sidelined him for part of spring ball.

“It was hard sitting out, but I knew it was for a greater purpose,” Coxie said. “I was real excited when I knew it was time to start playing. I just had a lot of fire built up.”

Johnson said Coxie weighed about 175 pounds when he arrived at Memphis. He’s now up to a sturdy 205. He’s impressed the coaching staff with his work ethic, and his ability to get in and out of his breaks. Quarterback Riley Ferguson has already likened him to “a young A.J. Green."

Johnson, for his part, offered a different comparison.

“He just reminds you of a young Phil Mayhue,” he said.

And the reliable senior himself has, at least to this point, been impressed.

“He’s going to be a big factor this year,” Mayhue said of Coxie. “His mindset is by far one of the best attributes he has. And obviously his athletic ability. But it’s his mindset that helps him through a lot of situations.”

Despite the Tigers’ depth and experience at wide receiver, Johnson anticipates Coxie having a significant role in the offense in 2017. Foster said he believes his former receiver is “going to be something to be reckoned with” in the coming years, both in the American Athletic Conference and beyond.

As for Coxie, after all the ups, downs and unknowns of the past two years, he’s ready to let his play speak for him.